Colombian immigrants

SIGNIFICANCE: Although Colombian immigrants are relative newcomers to the United States, their numbers began increasing greatly during the last decades of the twentieth century. By 2018, Colombians were the largest South American immigrant group in the US, accounting for 24 percent of all South Americans in the country. In the 2020s, Colombians remained the largest South American immigrant group in the US, with approximately 1.6 million US residents either born in Colombia or reporting Colombian ancestry as of 2021.

Since the mid-twentieth century, tumultuous developments in Colombia have spurred large numbers of Colombians to immigrate to the US. As in many other Latin American countries, Colombia’s political instability has significantly motivated people to leave the country. Colombia has lacked political stability since it became independent of the Spanish Empire in 1819. In 1948, a civil war, referred to as the La Violencia, broke out between conservative and liberal factions within the country. Throughout the 1950s, hundreds of thousands of Colombians were killed or displaced from their homes. The election of President Carlos Lleras Restrepo during the late 1960s brought some stability to the country. However, political turmoil returned in 1974 with the defeat of the ruling political party. The 1980s witnessed a dramatic upsurge in Colombia’s political, social, and economic problems due to the unprecedented factor of drug-related crime. The widespread sale and use of illegal drugs, particularly cocaine, was the primary catalyst for the continuing unrest in Colombia.

Colombian Diaspora

The early twenty-first century has seen much debate over the number of Colombians residing in the US. Colombia’s census bureau estimated that 4.1 million Colombians were living abroad in 2005, and about one-half of these people lived in the US. However, data from the US Census Bureau showed only 730,510 Colombians residing within US borders during that year. The discrepancy between the Colombian and US government figures is almost certainly due to the high levels of undocumented Colombian immigration to the US.

In 2021, Colombian immigrants were the largest group of immigrants from South America, with approximately 855,000 residing in the US. The number rose within the next two years, showing over 1.6 million Colombian immigrants residing in the US in 2023.

The many Colombian natives living outside their homeland are evidence of a major diaspora. Historically, the number of Colombians who immigrated to the US did not become significant until about 1948, when La Violencia began. That war caused many rural Colombians to move into Colombia’s urban areas. An overabundance of workers in the cities helped cause an economic recession, increasing emigration to the US. The disruptions of the La Violencia era and the growing social networks of Colombians in the US also encouraged more Colombians to emigrate.

Through the end of the 1980s, Colombians living in the US were almost exclusively upper-middle- and upper-class professionals. Migration of these individuals resulted in a massive brain drain from Colombia. During the 1990s, however, less educated Colombian laborers began immigrating to the US in larger numbers.

The emergence of Colombia’s illegal narcotics industry during the 1980s compounded the nation’s political and economic problems. Drug-related crime began affecting the lives of everyday Colombians. Through murder, assassination, bombings, and kidnappings, the drug cartels gained such power that they demanded political control and threatened the very foundation of Colombia’s political structure. Growing political instability brought new levels of internal population movements and emigration. Many Colombians fled to Venezuela, Spain, and the US. Colombia’s problems with drug cartels, economic recession, and political instability persisted throughout the 1990s.

Colombian Immigrants to the United States

Escalating violence and political disorder in Colombia have driven increasing numbers of its citizens to seek asylum in other countries, and most asylum seekers have come to the US. In 2003, an estimated 11,600 Colombian immigrants classified as asylum seekers resided in the US, making Colombians the second-largest asylum applicant population. The same year, 4,547 new claims for asylum were filed with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). While the US government can grant temporary protective status (TPS) to refugees from countries whose citizens are in grave, imminent danger, Colombia is not on the list of eligible countries. The US has not acknowledged appeals from human rights organizations and the Colombian government to grant Colombians TPS. Colombians attempting to enter the US must instead secure legal immigrant status, a process all immigrants face and one that many underestimate in terms of its difficulty. Although many Colombians are granted legal permanent residence status, many others are stuck in an ambiguous, undocumented category. As the twenty-first century progressed, the appearance of Colombian migrants at the US's southern border increased dramatically. In February 2022, 9,650 migrants attempted to enter the US, and the number of Colombian migrants attempting to enter the US increased by 286 percent from 2021 to 2022. The Biden administration was forced to implement immigration enforcement measures to control the flow of migrants, including those from Colombia. In an effort to control immigration, the Trump administration changed the TPS regulations for Venezuelans on November 5, 2025, which is expected to effect Colombian migration to the US.

Colombians in the United States

Since they first arrived in the US in substantial numbers, Colombians have strived to establish their own identity among the numerous Hispanic populations and find their place within mainstream America. However, many immigrants endure the effects of stereotyping and discrimination because of negative American perceptions of Colombia as a drug-trafficking, criminal country, even though a minuscule number of Colombians in the US engage in illegal activities.

Remittances, the transfers of money from Colombian Americans to relatives in Colombia, are an essential part of immigrant life. In 2021 alone, Colombian residents of the US remitted an estimated $8.61 billion to Colombia to aid relatives and friends. This number has only increased each year. In 2022, Colombians in the US sent approximately $9.4 billion in remittances back to Colombia and $10.091 billion in 2023. The increasing number of remittances further illustrates the dramatic rise in migration from Colombia to the US. It provides evidence of greater interdependence between the two nations and their peoples. 

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